This invention relates generally to keyboard activated display of data, and more particularly concerns the provision of improvements in computer and operator controlled selection and display of data.
Manually operated remote controls for a wide variety of systems and devices have generally been implemented by groups of pushbutton or key switches, each having a fixed engraved or printed legend which defines the single function activated by that switch. Complex control panels containing many hundreds of pushbuttons are frequently needed to provide operator access to all available functions of the remote devices.
With the increasing application of computers and microprocessors to the direction and control of remotely operating devices, and the relatively high cost of, and space required by, many pushbuttons, a more efficient approach to manual control input facilities is desirable.